General-purpose AI model: A general-purpose AI model is an AI model trained on a large amount of data that shows significant generality, can competently perform a wide range of distinct tasks, and can be integrated into many downstream systems and applications.
In plain words
It is the engine, not the car. The model behind a chatbot is a general-purpose AI model; the chatbot on your website is an AI system built on it.
What it means for a small business
The Act's duties for these models fall on the companies that make them, in Chapter V. A business that uses them through an app or a bot doesn't carry those duties.
Example
ExampleOmni Agent's bots run on general-purpose AI models from model makers. Those makers carry the model duties; a business hiring a bot is a deployer of the bot.
Source
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the AI Act, Article 3(63), Chapter V, on EUR-Lex. This page explains the term in plain words; it is not legal advice.